Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) in Action on Two Campuses - Cisco

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) in Action on Two Campuses At Bowdoin College in Maine, the day after winter break in 2012 was a test for the newly upgraded campus wireless network. Reflecting the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend on school campuses, the college’s 1750 students were expected to return from the holidays with double the number of personal mobile devices. Not only did the campus Wi-Fi network need to support more mobile devices, but those devices would be consuming double the bandwidth, on average, because of growing use of two-way video, video content for classes, digital textbooks, and even class projects like robotics control. The IT team wanted to take steps to make sure that growing demand wouldn’t take down dorm networks.

Rising to the Challenge of More Devices Generating More Traffic Bowdoin’s challenge mirrors that of other higher education institutions across the country as they grapple with how to satisfy students’ expectations for high-performance wireless access anywhere, with any device. “In the Cisco Connected World Technology Report, 66 percent of students surveyed said the most important technology in their lives was a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet,” says Renee Patton, U.S. Public Sector Director of Education at Cisco. The challenge is especially daunting in high-density environments like lecture halls, dorms, and stadiums. “It’s important to make sure that more devices and more video don’t slow performance of other administrative, learning, and research applications,” Patton says.

More Devices, More Video Fortunately, Bowdoin’s IT team had prepared for the influx of personal mobile devices by upgrading to new Cisco® wireless access points that provide high performance at greater ranges, even when many students connect at once from the same area. A recent headline in the student newspaper read: “College listens to students; upgrades wireless system.” The University of South Florida also kept up with rising wireless traffic by upgrading to the new Cisco wireless access points, which provide coverage over 80 percent of the campus. Approximately 40,000 people connect to the Wi-Fi network on a typical day, including students using personal mobile devices for multiple-choice quizzes during class, to access online learning applications such as MATLAB and Blackboard, and more.

Relief for IT Teams More good news: multiplying wireless traffic doesn’t mean multiplying work for campus IT teams. New management tools help colleges and universities meet the challenges of BYOD and wireless voice and video with current staffing levels. For example, Cisco CleanAir™ technology reveals sources of RF interference such as microwave ovens and automatically works around the interference. To read the University of South Florida case study, visit: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/wireless/C36-698193-00_University_Embraces_Bring-Your-Own-Device.pdf To watch the Cisco webcast “Make Mobility More Manageable—And Less Maddening,” click here.

Americas Headquarters Cisco Systems, Inc. San Jose, CA

Asia Pacific Headquarters Cisco Systems (USA) Pte. Ltd. Singapore

Europe Headquarters Cisco Systems International BV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Cisco has more than 200 offices worldwide. Addresses, phone numbers, and fax numbers are listed on the Cisco Website at www.cisco.com/go/offices. Cisco and the Cisco Logo are trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco’s trademarks can be found at www.cisco. com/go/trademarks. Third party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1005R)